Why You Should Avoid Vegetable Oils
Summary
TLDRThis Doctors Pharmacy podcast episode delves into the historical misconception that vegetable oils are healthier than saturated fats. It traces the rise of vegetable oils, like Crisco, which were initially used industrially but were later marketed as food. The script discusses the link between the consumption of hydrogenated oils, which produce trans fats, and the rise in heart disease. It also addresses the instability of liquid vegetable oils, which can lead to oxidation and inflammation, contributing to chronic diseases. The episode concludes with recommendations to avoid vegetable oils and opt for healthier alternatives like avocado oil, grass-fed butter, and organic extra virgin olive oil.
Takeaways
- 📚 In the 1960s, it was advised to replace saturated fats with vegetable oils for health reasons.
- 🧊 The belief that unsaturated fats from vegetable oils are healthier than saturated fats like butter and lard is a societal conditioning.
- 🌿 The vegetable oil industry began in the early 1900s, with Crisco being one of the first products.
- 🔧 Vegetable oils were initially used for industrial purposes, not food, and their processing involves multiple steps including hydrogenation, which produces trans fats.
- 📈 Heart disease rates increased around the time trans fats were introduced into the American diet.
- 💡 Procter & Gamble, a soap maker, repurposed vegetable oils for food and influenced nutrition science through funding the American Heart Association.
- 💸 Procter & Gamble's financial support of the American Heart Association led to the promotion of vegetable oils as heart-healthy.
- 🚫 Despite the promotion, trans fats in hardened vegetable oils are harmful and have been linked to increased mortality.
- 🔥 Liquid vegetable oils are also dangerous due to their instability, leading to oxidation and inflammation when heated or exposed to light.
- 🍽️ Dr. Hyman recommends avoiding vegetable oils and using alternatives like avocado oil, grass-fed butter, and organic extra virgin olive oil for cooking.
- 🍲 When eating out, inquire about the type of oils used in the kitchen and request healthier options if necessary.
Q & A
What was the initial idea behind replacing saturated fats with vegetable oils?
-The initial idea was that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats from vegetable and seed oils would be healthier and help prevent cardiovascular disease.
When did the misconception about fats and oils start?
-The misconception started in the 1960s, but the roots can be traced back to the early 1900s with the birth of the vegetable oil industry.
What was the first vegetable oil product introduced?
-The first vegetable oil product was Crisco, introduced in the early 1900s.
How did the vegetable oil industry influence the perception of fats and oils?
-The vegetable oil industry, particularly Procter & Gamble with their product Crisco, influenced perceptions by marketing their products as modern and healthier alternatives to traditional saturated fats like lard.
What process is used to harden vegetable oils and what is the resulting product?
-The process used to harden vegetable oils is called hydrogenation, which produces trans fats.
What health issues have been associated with the consumption of hardened vegetable oils?
-Consumption of hardened vegetable oils, which contain trans fats, has been linked to increased rates of heart disease.
How did Procter & Gamble help the American Heart Association grow in the 1940s?
-Procter & Gamble helped the American Heart Association by sponsoring a radio show, which led to a significant influx of funds and the establishment of the AHA as a major non-profit organization.
What was the recommendation from the American Heart Association regarding vegetable oils?
-The American Heart Association started recommending the consumption of vegetable oils to prevent heart attacks, which later turned out to be misguided due to the harmful effects of trans fats.
What are the issues with consuming vegetable oils in their liquid form?
-Liquid vegetable oils are highly unstable and prone to oxidation, which can lead to inflammation and chronic diseases when consumed.
What are the health implications of the widespread use of vegetable oils in processed foods?
-The widespread use of vegetable oils in processed foods has led to increased consumption of unhealthy fats that contribute to inflammation and chronic diseases.
What alternatives to vegetable oils does Dr. Hyman recommend for cooking?
-Dr. Hyman recommends using avocado oil, grass-fed butter, organic extra virgin olive oil, and other organic extra virgin cold-pressed oils like flaxseed oil, walnut oil, and hemp seed oil for cooking.
What is the concern with using vegetable oils for frying or in salad dressings?
-The concern is that vegetable oils can degrade and oxidize when heated or exposed to light, creating oxidation products that are harmful to health.
Outlines
🧀 The Misguided Embrace of Vegetable Oils
This paragraph discusses the historical shift in dietary advice from the 1960s, which recommended replacing saturated fats with vegetable oils. It introduces the 'doctors pharmacy podcast' and its producer who challenges the conventional wisdom that fats are harmful, emphasizing that the type of fat is crucial. The narrative reveals how society was conditioned to view unsaturated fats as superior and saturated fats as detrimental, a belief that is contested. The discussion includes the role of the food industry, particularly the vegetable oil industry, which began in the early 1900s with products like Crisco. It explains how these oils, initially used for industrial purposes, were repurposed for food consumption after processing like hydrogenation, which creates trans fats. The paragraph highlights the correlation between the introduction of these oils and the rise in heart disease, suggesting a link between vegetable oils and health issues. It also touches on the influence of companies like Procter & Gamble on nutrition science and the American Heart Association's recommendations, which were heavily funded by these corporations, leading to the widespread adoption of what turned out to be unhealthy oils.
🚫 The Downfall of Vegetable Oils and Their Impact on Health
Paragraph 2 delves into the unintended consequences of the widespread use of vegetable oils, particularly the increased risk of cancer associated with their consumption. It recounts high-level meetings at the NIH in the 1980s that aimed to understand this link but concluded with a decision to prioritize the perceived heart disease benefits over the cancer risks, despite the lack of clarity in the data. The paragraph details the industrial process of creating vegetable oils, from the extraction using solvents like hexane to the multiple steps of refinement, which result in a product far removed from its natural state. It contrasts this with the simplicity of butter production, questioning the logic of replacing natural fats with highly processed alternatives. The paragraph concludes with recommendations from Dr. Hyman to avoid vegetable oils due to their propensity to oxidize and degrade when heated or exposed to light, producing harmful oxidation products. Instead, he suggests using healthier alternatives like avocado oil, grass-fed butter, and organic extra virgin olive oil for cooking, and advises consumers to inquire about the types of oils used in restaurants and request healthier options.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Saturated fats
💡Vegetable oils
💡Unsaturated fats
💡Hydrogenation
💡Trans fats
💡Oxidation
💡Inflammation
💡Crisco
💡American Heart Association
💡Procter & Gamble
💡Extra virgin olive oil
Highlights
Avoiding saturated fats and replacing them with vegetable oils was a common belief dating back to the 1960s.
Fats and oils are not inherently damaging to health; it's the type of fat that matters.
Unsaturated fats from vegetable and seed oils were considered healthier than saturated fats like butter, lard, and ghee.
The vegetable oil industry began in the early 1900s with products like Crisco.
Vegetable oils were originally used for industrial purposes and then repurposed for food.
Procter & Gamble played a significant role in the marketing and sale of Crisco as a food product.
Heart disease rates began to increase around the time vegetable oils were introduced to the market.
Trans fats, produced through the hydrogenation process of vegetable oils, are harmful to health.
Procter & Gamble's influence on the American Heart Association led to the promotion of vegetable oils for heart health.
Vegetable oils, even without trans fats, are unstable and can oxidize, leading to inflammation and chronic diseases.
Studies have shown that people on vegetable oil diets have higher rates of cancer and heart disease.
The FDA eventually recognized the dangers of trans fats after decades of pressure and a lawsuit.
Vegetable oils are now known to be dangerous when heated or exposed to light, leading to the creation of oxidation products.
Dr. Hyman recommends avoiding vegetable oils and instead using healthier alternatives like avocado oil and grass-fed butter.
Organic extra virgin olive oil and other cold-pressed oils are recommended for topping dishes and low-heat cooking.
When eating out, it's important to inquire about the types of oils used in the kitchen and request healthier alternatives.
The production process of vegetable oils involves multiple steps and chemical extraction, questioning their health benefits.
Transcripts
when they said avoid saturated fats you
were supposed to replace them with
vegetable oils right that was the idea
going back to the 1960s
hi I'm one of the producers of the
doctors pharmacy podcast we haven't
fortunately been taught to think that
fats and oils are damaging for our
health and lead to things like
cardiovascular disease but this is not
necessarily true when it comes to fats
the type of fat we eat matters as a
society we've been conditioned to
believe that unsaturated fats from
vegetable and seed oils are best and
that butter lard ghee and other
saturated fats are toxic in fact the
reverse is true dr. Hyman discussed some
of the history behind this
misunderstanding with leading science
journalist Nina Michaels well this is
where the food industry does come in a
little bit just to start off this story
so the the the vegetable oil industry
was kind of born in the early 1900's
right the first vegetable oil product
was Crisco oh yeah right so used to be
that those oils were used for the
industrial revolution they were loos to
lubricate machinery and then they
figured out how to harden them to make
them and they learned how to bleach them
and make them look white and then they
thought and it was actually Procter &
Gamble that figure out how to do that
they were gonna make it into a soap you
know soap is made from oil instead they
like that looks an awful lot like lard
let's try to sell it as a food so they
started to sell it as a food and yeah so
it turns out that they contained you
know that it's what they hardening
vegetable oils is done through a process
called hydrogenation and that produces
trans fats but so these these trans
fatty hardened oils were started to be
sold to Americans in 1911 so
coincidentally heart disease starts to
take off right right around you maybe
like ten years later we started seeing
increases in death from heart disease so
so then Procter & Gamble figures out how
to just sell oil is oil so one of the
things I understand about these oils is
they're Procter & Gamble produce like
shampoo they were a soap maker so that's
why they came up with this so but
they're like but Crisco was like a
best-selling thing they convinced you
know in America so all these immigrants
and they want to become American right
and so Procter & Gamble had this
brilliant advertising campaign basically
saying you know give up Lara those are
the throat the bygone days of your
grandmother's like the spinning wheel of
the olden days and you know have Crisco
instead and this is the newfangled thing
made in you know shiny scientist
kitchens so so Procter and Gamble
figured out how to then make vegetable
oils that were fluid in bottles I kind
of tinkered with the fatty acids to make
them stable and then so here's the where
they they started to influence nutrition
science in 1948 the American Heart
Association which is really just an
association of cardiologists right
remember heart disease is knew tiny
little Association know barely had an
office they were just like they barely
had any funds Procter & Gamble comes in
and says we're gonna make you the
designee of this radio show for the week
and over it was this huge deal
overnight literally according to the
official history of the American Heart
Association they said millions of
dollars flowed into our coffers we
became overnight the powerhouse opening
offices all across the country that we
are today they're still the number one
largest non-for-profit in the in the
country all thanks to Procter & Gamble
and pretty soon thereafter they started
to recommend that you start eating
vegetable oils to prevent a heart attack
which was the worst idea because turns
out that trans fats everybody agrees in
this killed hundreds of thousand
millions of people over the decades
Trant with the SATs yeah the trans fats
in the heart and vegetable oils and
Crisco are bad for health clearly bad
for health but in the liquid form and
now their world is not safe to eat by
the fda after 50 years of pressure to
change that right I finally took a
lawsuit from a 97 year old scientist who
first discovered this 50 years ago to
get them to change so vegetable oils so
it turns out that it they when they're
in the oil form they're also dangerous
so they don't contain trans fats right
but in the oil form the oils are highly
unstable that means that they oxidize
either acid they go rancid oxidation is
remember that's why we take antioxidants
be
as oxidation causes inflammation in your
body like yes that's actually to the
inside and heart because heart disease
on the inside oxidized LDL is what's
thought to provoke that unstable plaque
that causes heart blockage yeah so this
is what
and in those clinic in that on all those
studies remember we talked about the
Minnesota coronary survey where they had
people some people on on vegetable oil
diets in all of those studies again and
again and again the people in the
vegetable oil diets died at much higher
rates from cancer this was considered a
side effect of this heart-healthy diet
and they actually had a series of very
high-level meetings at the NIH in the
early 1980s to figure out what was going
on with this side effect of cancer and
nobody could figure it out and they
basically just said look we believe that
vegetable oils will help people prevent
heart disease so we're gonna ignore the
cancer effect these were sort of
invented 120 plus years ago and we now
have increased our consumption of
soybean oil for example a thousandfold
and it's 10% of our calories and it's in
everything it's stuff that you wouldn't
imagine is in so any processed food that
you buy it's made in a factory probably
has this oil in it or some variety of it
and I think you know when you look at
the data it is confusing there's a lot
of people who who are looking at large
observational processes that show that
there's a risk for you know saturated
fat and a benefit for omega-3 omega-6
oils and there's other data that show
there's some actually randomized trials
that show the opposite when you just
have people eat only in the vegetable
oil they do worse right and let's just
remember that latter data from trials is
is the rigorous cause-and-effect data
right so yeah I mean so what do you
recommend no vegetable oils well I was
just gonna tell briefly about my visit
to a vegetable oil factory to explain
what a Bunge Factory what a brutal
process it is to get oil out of a bean
or a seed right they they have to go
through this you know process of
extracting the oil when it's not even
really oil when it comes out as gray
rancid disgusting fluid it's chemically
extracted with
in another nasty camera right if you use
hexane as a solvent to extract it and
then they and then they have and then
it's this bad smelling gray liquid it
has to be deodorized winterized you know
twitch and all this so it goes through
like 17 steps in this giant industrial
plant and you know and then it's Crisco
so you know compared to and this is what
we're told to eat instead of of churning
butter right so like you just milk the
cow and then you turn the butter so I
think that you know it's it's sort of it
speaks to our to me like speaks to its
kind of the craziness about food that we
live in which is so you know so divorced
from our history like can you really
believe that's something that goes
through this you know 17 step process in
a in a factory is what you should be
eating to restore your health how many
steps did it take from the field your
fork you know yeah more than one or two
it's probably not a good idea so the
huge worry about vegetable oils to my
mind is that when they are heated and
even if they're left out in an in a
bottle whether it's exposed to light
they will degrade that's right they
oxidize they degree that means they
break down into these oxidation products
when you put them under heat that in
like any chemical reaction that speeds
up and it creates literally hundreds of
degraded oxidation products some of
which are known toxins Americans are
eating frightening amounts of refined
vegetable oils seed oils and omega-6
fats all of which contribute to
inflammation and chronic diseases dr.
Hyman recommends avoiding these oils
altogether so what should you use
instead
avocado oil and grass-fed gr your best
bets for cooking due to their higher
smoke points organic extra virgin olive
oil and other organic extra virgin
cold-pressed oils like flaxseed oil
walnut oil and hemp seed oil are great
for topping a wide variety of dishes
organic extra virgin olive oil is also
great for cooking at very low heat
vegetable and seed oils are the types of
oils used in most restaurants especially
for frying they can even be in seemingly
healthy salad dressings when eating out
don't be afraid to ask what kinds of
oils a kitchen uses and request a
healthier alternative
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tuning in
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